Number 77: A Rainbow Factory Story
by MLP Paty Cake
Summary: Paty Cake is a poor pony that lives alone and has been feed by an Agency for years. After attending a Flight Academy, Paty now has to take an Exam that would make him a legal adult. However, if he fails, he will face a fate that no one should face.
1. Introduction

Introduction

Paty Cake was nervous; it was his final class before the Flight Exam. The Flight Exam that would get him out of school and make him an official adult. His Instructor had taught him well, but he still had not passed a single practice run and the Exam was four days away.

"Okay class, I have taught you all to the best of my ability and I have full confidence that you will pass. However, I received an important letter last night holding information that you should all be aware of. The cloud kicking section has been replaced by a cloud spinning one. All you have to do is fly fast around the clouds to make them spin instead of kinking them apart," Paty's Instructor said.

Every pony was shocked; Paty was more frightened than ever before. They trained for the Exam half of a semester and learned to kick clouds during the first section, not to spin them. Paty felt completely unprepared for the Exam. Every other pony started complaining that they shouldn't change how the Exam is runned just before they take it.

"I know how you ponies feel, this has put a lot of pressure on me, too. I believe that you ponies can pass, anyway. Remember, you have trained at this Academy for years. Some of you even earned cutie marks in flight. I know you can do this."

Then the Instructor looked at Paty. "Paty, I would like to see you after class, please."

"Okay sir," Paty said.

"Wow," some pony said. "Looks like Paty Blank is going to get a cutie mark in trouble making."

It was Lightning Spree, a pony that picked on Paty for years, making fun of the fact that he had a blank flank. Paty Cake was the only Pegasus in The Flight Academy that didn't have a cutie mark; It made him feel real stupid. Lighting Spree was one of the ponies that actually got his cutie mark in flight. It was a big bolt of lightning on his flank. Spree himself was a red pony with a blue mane and yellow eyes. He was one of the super fast, popular Pegasi that could run the Academy if he wanted to, but he wasn't the only pony.

His friend Storm Cloud could, too. Storm had a light grey fur coat with a yellow mane. He had the same yellow eyes that Spree did, even though they were not related. His cutie mark was a cloud with two lightning bolts shooting out of it and was also earned in flight. The two ponies made Paty's life miserable, giving him a clever nickname that was insulting and rhymed with his actual name. Luckily, his Instructor was right there when Spree spoke out.

"You better keep it down or I'll make sure you never pass the Exam," the Instructor said.

Spree and Storm started laughing together along with a few others in the class.

"Calm down ponies, you should know better than to make fun of a Pegasus that does not have their cutie mark," the Instructor said.

A few seconds after that, the bell rang and every pony rushed out of the classroom. Paty waited for all of them to be gone, then got up and met with his Instructor.

"Anything you need help with, sir," Paty asked.

"Yes there is. You can start by bringing your poor confidence up and believing that you have this," his Instructor told him.

Paty looked down at the cloud floor and said," Sir, I just can not do it. I got closer and closer to beating the practice run, but now I have to change my flight plans because I will be spinning clouds instead of kicking them. Plus, you've seen me fly. I am a lot slower than the other ponies and I have major balance issues, sometimes."

"Look at me, Paty," the Instructor said.

"It does not matter if you have balance issues, it does not matter if they changed a section of course, it does not matter if you are slower than the others, it does not even matter if you have a cutie mark or not. Even ponies with cutie marks in poetry are taking this Exam! All that matters is that you a have the courage and the belief that you will pass this Exam. It may be a little difficult, but I am positive that you can do this."

Paty clenched his teeth then asked "what if you are wrong? What if I fail the Exam, even if I had all the confidence in the world and the strongest belief that any pony could have? What would happen to me?"

His Instructor sighed."I have no idea what will happen to you if you fail. No pony does. The rumor is that they ban you from Cloudsdale. That is it though, you can still make a decent life anywhere in Equestria. Getting banned from the city is not that bad. However, I don't think you will go through that, anyway. You are going to pass, no questions asked."

"Thank you sir," Paty said. The Instructor nodded.

"You have a good day, Paty."

Paty nodded back, fear of failing still lingering in his soul.

"You too, sir," he said then walked out of the classroom.

"May Celestia and Luna have mercy on your soul, Paty Cake," the Instructor thought. "Your future and your very life, depend much on this Exam. Do not mess it up for yourself."

Paty Cake lived in the most famous place in Equestria; Cloudsdale. Other than Canterlot, Cloudsdale was the most beautiful, rich, and the most socially acceptable city in the world. Why it was such a wonderful place is the fact that it had perfect weather every day, it was the home of the Pegasi, and the entire city was made out of clouds.

The buildings, homes, floors, the Flight Arena, Cloudsdale's Flight Academy, Coliseum, even the factories, all made out of beautiful white clouds. The Pegasi were lucky! Because of their ability to control the weather, the Pegasi had the ability to stand on clouds. Clouds were the most comfortable source of weather, so the Pegasi lived in and slept on them frequently.

Out of all of its wonderfully constructed buildings and decor, Paty's favorite view in the City was the Rainbow Factory. Recently separated from the other factories, the Rainbow Factory became the most popular view for most Pegasi. Rainbows in liquid form came out of the top of the building, and drizzled down the sides in beautiful bright colors. Almost as if the Factory was a giant fountain.

When the rainbows hit certain parts on the sides of the building, energy got released and the rainbows converted into light, making wonderful streaks of color in the sky. The left over rainbows fell out of Cloudsdale and disappeared into a colorful mist, never touching the surface below.

If Paty ever had a shot at going inside the Rainbow Factory, he would have taken it. However, despite all the happy attention given to the building, the Rainbow Factory was a strange place. For no pony seemed to go in, or come out of it. There was only one door to the facility, heavily guarded by Pegasi in black colored armor.

No pony could figure out or understand how Rainbows were made. Since the rainbows start out as a liquid and turn into a rainbow going into the sky, the Pegasi assumed that some kind of magic was involved in the production process , so no pony questioned it. Rainbows were a necessary source of weather stability; the Pegasi relied heavily on the product of rainbows.

Weather stability was a vital thing to have in Cloudsdale. Without it, Cloudsdale's structure would tear apart. Rainbows released a special kind of energy that made the clouds harder, making for better building supports and a more protected city. So much protection, that when anything created a hole in the cloud, the cloud would regenerate and the hole would be gone like it was never there.

Plus, because of Cloudsdale's success on making weather stable for it to function, the city became super rich. So rich, that most of Equestria's actual weather came from Cloudsdale's_ Weather Corporation_, making any pony that lives in the city rich themselves. Such a society doesn't believe in questioning who runs anything that keeps it all together, such as rainbows. They just live their normal lives with all their bits and big fluffy houses.

Why would any pony question something that held the city together and kept ponies from easily walking through walls? Why question something that makes you feel safe and makes your society look like the city upon a hill? Why question the ponies that have prevented your home from utterly collapsing beneath your hoofs?


	2. Paty's Long Day

Paty's long day

Paty Cake was a dark purple Pegasus with teal colored eyes, an orange mane and tail that was short. He was blank flanked and not strong at all. He had the same body shape that most ponies had at the time. He had a very lonely life, too. No pony ever took his side on anything and had always made fun of him. The only pony that did anything for him was his Instructor. What he didn't know is that it would all change for him.

Paty opened his eyes to a gorgeous day in Equestria. The sun was beaming bright just above the horizon, making Cloudsdale look like a giant gold fortress. To Paty, it wasn't a gorgeous day at all. There was two days before the Flight Exam and he felt like he still could not fly. He felt that his wings wouldn't let him.

He had to fly through three Sections that made up the Flight Exam. Cloud Spinning, Agility, and Free Fall. The three basic elements that a Pegasus pony had to know in order to live in Cloudsdale. However, Paty could only free fall good. Cloud kicking was hard enough and now he had to spin clouds using his speed. He also had to fly through hoops that made up the Agility Section, which was the second portion of the Exam.

He had to go through them with great speed before time ran out, even though he was the slowest flyer in his class. Then there was the Free Fall section which Paty had to fall for three seconds then bolt forward and land perfectly on the finish line. Although, it was the only way that he would make a great life for himself and get a job that paid him well; like what most Pegasi had those days.

He made up his mind to go to the Flight Arena where the Exam was taking place, and practice for it as much as he could.

"Okay, I can do this," he thought. "I just need to focus. I have it under control. Just lift off the starting line, spin some clouds, fly through the hoops, fall for three seconds, then make a clean landing on the finish line. Easy, right?"

Paty got out of his bed, which was just a cloud he was given. He stretched out as much as he could, then flew to the Arena.

Since it was a weekday, the Arena was not going to be packed. Paty's class had the day off since they were taking the Exam. So he took the opportunity to practice without making himself look like a fool in front of a bunch of ponies. While on the way to the Arena, Paty took a moment to admire the Rainbow Factory's spectacular view. It looked amazing to him in the gold tint that surrounded the City.

As he was watching, the rainbows started losing their color and flickering like a lightbulb going out. Then suddenly fantastic new rainbows overthrew the old ones and and the color spectacle was back.

"Must have started a new batch," Paty thought. He stared the Factory down, thinking of the millions of things that he could do inside of it. After a while, he went back to his route, heading to the Arena.

It did not take him that long to get to his destination; The Rainbow Factory and the Arena were pretty close to each other. As he entered the hugely built building, he started hearing the laughter of his two most hated ponies. He peered through the Arena doors and saw Lightning Spree and Storm Cloud racing through the Exam course. Paty let out a sigh.

"Lets just get this over with," he thought out loud.

As he flew to the course, Spree and Storm immediately stopped their race and went over to Paty as fast as they could.

"Hi there, Paty Blank," Spree said and both started laughing.

"Okay jerks, I am just here to practice for the Flight Exam, nothing else," Paty said.

"You mean you're here to fail. You're not even as fast as a dart," Storm said.

"No, he's as fast as a dart, but only when he is face planting into the clouds", Spree said.

Paty told himself to just ignore them and get on with his practice runs. He had a task to do and he was going to see it through, whether Spree and Storm were there or not. He flew to the starting line and gazed at the course. It was huge, almost as long as the field inside the Arena itself was. Paty looked at the sections each and examined them closely.

The Cloud Spinning Section only contained only three clouds, which was the same number of clouds used in the Cloud Kicking version of it. That eased Paty's fear a lot on that particular section.

"Maybe I have a shot at this after all," he thought. The tension he felt though was still high.

He looked at the Agility Section and quivered at the sight of it. Many hoops put closely together in no particular order at all. The very thought of flying really fast through each of them was very terrifying to Paty. The hoops were not very large; any pony could miss one if they did not pay close attention.

The Free Fall section did not look too serious to him. A red flag on a cloud signified to start free falling and it was at far enough distance from the hoops to see the section come up before missing it. Once Paty processed the course in his head, he walked up to the Starting line and took a deep breath and thought of his instructors words.

"Come on Paty Cake, have confidence and the belief that you can pass. That is exactly what your instructor told you so make it happen. Do it for your future, you depend on passing this exam so do it! Take this chance, it is the only one you will have."

He got into his launch position and prepared to fly when he was ready to.

"Come on Paty, you know that you're going to fail," Spree said.

"Yeah, Paty Blank, every pony else will pass but you," Storm laughed.

Paty tried his best to ignore them. When he felt ready, he launched from the starting line and begun flying as fast as he could.

Paty went for the first cloud he saw and flew circles around it. He kept going around in loops until the cloud was spinning along with him, then he jumped to the next cloud, repeating the same strategy. Once done with the second one, he quickly moved to the third. Spree and Storm remained silent, waiting to pick on him when he failed.

He was done with the three clouds under a few seconds and moved on to the Agility Section. He was flying so fast, that he only saw the first hoop for a split second then was dodging them like crazy. He had to move in so many directions that his eyes couldn't tell if he was missing any or not. Eventually, it go so overwhelming that he lost track of the course and clipped his right wing on one of the hoops, lost his balance and flung into the cloudline, dropping through the different layers of Cloudsdale.

He regained his balance and dashed back up through the cloudline and landed on the Arena field just under the course. His heart was beating fast and he was panting out of fear.

"Oh crap, that was too close," he said out loud.

"Like a dart," Spree said and they both broke out laughing again, flying out of the Arena.

"One of these days, those ponies will get what's coming," Paty thought.

He took a moment to regain his breath before he moved a muscle. He was shaking; it felt like he almost lost his life. He wished there was somepony to check and see if he was alright, but he was the only pony in the Arena and the sun had risen only a little bit. He finally calmed down and gave up on trying to practice anymore. He did not want to die that day, let alone fall out of Cloudsdale again.

He felt the need to just go home and forget that all happened.

Paty Cake went back to his cloud that he called home, a bed, and his bedroom. He didn't have any family to live with. He didn't even know if he had family at all. The cloud was given to him by a care agency, who had kept him well fed all the years of his life. He had been an orphan for as long as he could remember. He never knew his parents nor know what happened to them.

He did not care though; he cared about the upcoming Flight Exam that determined what future he would have.

"That is it," he thought to himself. "I can not do this, I can't pass the exam! I'm totally screwed if I can't maintain my balance issues. Hitting my wing on a hoop then suddenly losing my balance isn't a sign of a winner but a loser. I can't do anything right these days."

A pony nearby noticed Paty moaping and flew down to check on him.

"Are you okay, Mister," they asked. Paty looked up at a yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane and tail. Her eyes were dark blue like Paty's, but slightly a lighter color. She was older than Paty was; she could be his mother if they were related. Her cutie mark was three butterflies with pink wings.

"No, I am not okay. I am having the worst day of my life yet and it only gets harder from here," Paty said. He wanted somepony to talk with him and say everything that was going on to make himself feel better, whether he knew them or not.

"Why, what's going on," she asked him.

"My Flight Exam is coming up and I don't think that I can pass it," he said.

"Oh, that explains a whole lot," the yellow Pegasus said to him.

"Do you have any tips for me," Paty asked. "I could use anything at this point."

She took a moment to gather her thoughts then said," you should try doing what I did during my Flight Exam." Paty was eager to hear what she did.

"So tell me, what did you do to pass!" She smiled. "All I did was treat the Exam like it was some kind of fun game. I was able to focus really well when I took it so that might work with you, too."

Paty thought about it."Treat it like some kind of fun game. That could help me out a lot if I tried to make myself believe it's not a Exam, I guess." He looked up at the pony."Thank you for the advice, uh," then he paused a moment.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Fluttershy," she said.

"My name is Paty Cake. Thanks for the advice, Fluttershy." Fluttershy made a weird face.

"Is that spelled with two T's or one," she asked.

There's only one letter T in my name," he said.

There was a short moment of silence then Fluttershy said "well, I just wanted to see if you were okay. I'm running late, I have to be at the Rainbow Factory." Paty's mood jumped up.

"Did you say the Rainbow Factory? Can I go with you, please? I've always wanted to go there but I don't know if they would allow it or not."

She laughed. "No, sorry, I can't. I'm sure you'll see it soon, though. It was great to meet you, Paty Cake."

Paty nodded. "It was great to meet you, too," he said. Then she started flying away and Paty noticed something odd. Her wings were flapping quickly, but her speed was slow.

"I think her advice is great, but it would take more than thinking the Exam was a game to pass with flying skills like that," he thought.

Even though her flying wasn't to good, Paty Cake didn't question her advice and planned to use it both on his next practice run and the Exam. Not only hers, but his instructors advice as well. He had meaning and passion in the words he spoke and Paty didn't want to disappoint him. Not after all that hard work he went through to get where he was.

He went back to the Arena to try the practice run again to see if the advice he received would work. When he got there, it was packed full of the ponies from his class. Each one doing anything but practicing for the Flight Exam. It amazed him that nopony was truly taking it seriously. Some of the ponies were racing each other around the field while the other ponies were either talking to each other or seeing who could do the best flying trick.

Paty didn't feel to stupid when he looked at these ponies. He felt smarter than he did in years. Fortunately for his class, there were six of the thirty ponies practicing for the Exam. He didn't want to fail in front of them, but Paty got in line anyway; he was scared out of his mind even though he was only doing a practice run.

When he started to calm down, somepony started shouting."Look everypony, Paty Blank is here!" It was storm who shouted and all the attention in the Arena turned to look at Paty. Storm flew over to him and started making fun of him.

"After that pathetic performance you gave earlier, I thought for sure you were crapping yourself to sleep. I guess that's what's going to happen anyway, though," Storm said.

Some of the other ponies begun laughing. Then Paty Cake said boldly "you're the one who's going to turn their coat brown after I pass the Exam." He never stood up against Storm or Spree before, but he was getting tired of being made fun of all the time.

"Oh yeah," Strom said. "If you're so confident that you'll pass, then show every pony here that you can. Try to make through the course. I dare you!"

The ponies waiting in line before Paty stepped aside and insisted that he went first. Paty wanted to shove in their faces that he would pass, so he walked up to the starting line and got into his launch position.

"Prove to them that you can do it," Paty told himself. He stared the course down for minuet, trying to see if he was making a mistake by being over confident in front of so many ponies.

"What's the matter Paty Blank, fear got your wings," Storm said chuckling to himself. Paty ignored him and focused on a method he could use to get through the hoops without failing again.

"Okay," he told himself. "Treat it like a game and have confidence that you can do this." He shot from the Starting line as fast as he could, counting the seconds in his head. Pegasi had about twenty-five seconds to complete the Exam and Paty wanted to keep track of that.

He flew to the first section of the course, spinning the three as clouds as fast as he could. Everypony in the Arena watched and waited for him to fail. After the last cloud, he entered the Agility Section, this time he had a plan. He slowed his speed down just enough for his eyes to depict each individual hoop.

He lost count in his head, but kept his focus. His instructor taught him to maintain focus and not to think about anything but what's in front of him. Even though Paty broke that rule by counting numbers in his head, he didn't focus on the fact that thirty ponies were watching him and he didn't focus on his balance issues or his hatred toward Storm and Spree. He focused exactly on the course like his instructor told him too.

In only a few seconds, he made it through the Agility Section and now was on the final part, Free Fall. He eyed the red flag as he neared the Section. His blood was pumping and his adrenaline was high. He didn't know it at the time, but he was having the funnest time of his entire life! Right as he passed the flag, he closed his wing and let himself fall down. Then he counted to three.

When that third second hit, he opened his wings and started flapping vigorously. He slowed down just enough to fly forward and land nicely on the finish line. All the Pegasi around him were so amazed by his performance that they rushed over to Paty and complement him and get advice on how to pass the exam. Some ponies even offered their hoof and friendship, asking Paty if he would hang out with them.

Paty however, didn't want to be friends with any of them. Laughing at his blank flank ever since he was a colt and agreeing with everything that Spree and Storm said about him. Now, they wanted to be friendly toward him because he might of had the ability to pass the exam. Paty didn't want friends that acted like that. Especially since they were so close to adulthood and still acting like they were in preschool. It made Paty feel disgust toward them.

It didn't matter to him though. He felt more confident in his ability to pass the exam more than ever. He didn't know if it was the fact that he believed in himself of because he treated it like a fun game. At the same time, he didn't care. In his head, he was going to pass the Flight Exam now and nothing would stop him. Not even if Spree and Storm tried to make him fail, he wasn't going to let them.

Storm flew over to Paty Cake. He looked pissed off that he was beaten by a Pony that he made fun of. "You just got lucky, Paty. When you take that Exam, you'll crack under the pressure and fail like you are meant to do," Storm said. Then he left the Arena, leaving Paty to soak in his success.

The next day, Paty went back to the Arena to see if he could pass the the practice again. Over and he ran through the course as many times as he could. Every time he flew through the course, he passed it. He eventually got worn out and took a seat in of the rows of chairs in the Arena. He was panting, sweaty, and tired. He felt really happy that he made it this far.

A pegasus that was there too flew to Paty to meet him. "Nice flying," the pony said. It was his instructor, who had been watching him run the course over and over again.

"Oh," Paty said. "I didn't know you'd be here, Sir." The instructor laughed a little bit.

"Neither did I, but I wanted to see which of my students were actually practicing for the Flight Exam tomorrow, so I decided to come down here and find out."

Paty smiled. "I took your advice about my confidence level and I guess it worked. Thank you Sir for believing in me."

Then the instructor said "you are very welcome! I believe in all of my students. If I see one of my students stuck in a hole, I'll try my best to pull them out of it. You know, I have been teaching you all of my knowledge on flight and I have to say that you are one of my favorite students. You're very nice, you have a lot of potential in this world."

The instructor put his wing on Paty. "I know you have had a very rough life. Things can't be easy without family and friends. This Exam is a tough one and you should brush all those bad things in your life aside and focus on passing it. Your entire life will change if you make it through. Seeing how you did on the practice, I know that you can do it."

Paty nodded in agreement. "I know I can, too." With no more inspiring words, the Instructor told Paty goodbye and left the Arena. When Paty felt well rested, he got back to practicing for the exam. He got on to the starting line and entered his launch position. When he was ready, he flung himself into the first Section and started spinning clouds as quickly as he could. Then he entered the Agility Section and started going through the hoops, keeping a slow enough pace to tell what direction to go each time he made it through a hoop.

He was nearly out of the Section when something slammed into his side. His balance was lost almost instantly and he rammed into one of the hoops. He crashed into the soft, pungy Arena field that was luckily made out of clouds. Pain was coursing through the side of his body. He was dazed and confused. As he got back up, a voice behind him said, "Hello, Paty Blank." He turned spun around as quickly as his neck would let him.

It was Storm, smiling at Paty with angry eyes. "Are you crazy," Paty shouted. "I could have been seriously hurt!" Storm walked closer to him.

"What do you think my goal was," he said as he got face to face with Paty.

"Storm Cloud, I don't want any trouble," Paty yelled.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you embarrassed me in front of all those ponies," Storm said.

Storm than bolted into Paty as hard as he could, throwing Paty back into the cloud floor. Storm started stomping on him. Paty quickly spun himself with his wings, scooping Storm up from under his hooves. He opened up his wings and tried flying away, but Storm grabbed his tail with his teeth, using as much force as he could to pull Paty back down.

Instead, Storm got slightly lifted off the cloud floor and slipped off Paty's tail. Paty's tail became soar real quick, but he started flying away from Storm as fast as his wings could take him. Storm flew up after him, caught up, and knocked Paty's balance off and hit fell onto the cloud floor. Paty's wing was now in pain that felt like sharp needles stabbing him.

When he started getting up, Storm flew at him with his top speed. Paty quickly reacted by turning around and kicked Storm with his back two hooves. Storm flew into his hooves at an incredible speed and took a massive blow to his eye. He hit the cloud floor, rolling and tumbling around until he came to a stop.

Paty trotted up to him and then Storm looked at him. His eye was really red and the surrounding area was covered in blood. "Fuck you, Paty," Storm yelled at him.

"You know what Storm, I'm done listening to you and Spree. I'm tired of you getting on my ass all the time about being a blank flank. I am especially tired of being your bitch. You have nothing on me anymore; nothing! I hope that if I do fail this Exam, you will too," Paty said.

Storm laughed, but Paty could tell he was in a great amount of agony from his injury. "Paty, even if I fail the Exam, you will still be my bitch. You will still be that colt who couldn't find any friends or even a cutie mark. Hell, you don't even know your own parents and yet you are still here in Cloudsdale making yourself look like a total idiot! Did you honestly believe that a lonely, self centered pony like you could make an honest living in this place? Only the Pegasi that are good enough and rich enough are worthy of living in this City!"

Paty got the temptation to kick him again, but forced himself not to. Then Paty said "I'm in control of my life and you can't tell me how my future is or whether I belong here in Cloudsdale or not. As a matter of fact, it amazes me that I let you pick on me all these years and yet all it took was a blow to your face to completely turn the tables. Technically, you are my bitch now! As far as I'm concerned, I don't take shit from you anymore!"

Paty didn't like to use swears, but he was enraged and felt that he should argue with Storm. All of the hatred he felt towards Storm and Spree was being released all at once. Paty started feeling power over Storm and took the chance to stop Storm from picking on him. Storm wasn't one to back down and he continued thinking of things to say to make Paty feel awful.

"I don't have to take that from a pony that couldn't get his cutie mark." He started trying to use Paty's past and win win the argument and used psychological war methods on him. "I don't take shit from a pony who can't get anything back! Not even his family!" Paty on the other hoof didn't really care that he didn't get his family back.

Why should he care about ponies he had never met, before? Storms psychological warfare was failing hard. Like another kick to the face, Storm was losing the argument and running out of ideas of insults to say.

"Are you done Storm? Can this conversation just end already or are you going to continue to make yourself look more and more like me," Paty asked. Storm pulled himself from the cloud floor.

"I'll see you tomorrow at the Exam. Both Spree and I will see you at the Exam. We'll be there to pass and watch you bomb your flight. When you go to wherever you end up after that, you'll be thinking of me and how right I was about you. You'll be thinking of Spree, too. Just wondering to yourself how great your life could have been if you were a real Pegasus. While you do that, I'll be filthy rich and lead a real successful life. A life that you don't have a chance receiving."

After that, Storm zoomed out of the Arena. Paty easily could tell that he won that argument. Storm hardly left an argument until the pony he was fighting with starts to cry and obviously, Paty was not crying. However, Storm didn't go out a complete loser. He left Paty with a major problem; an injured wing. His left wing was in scorching pain and he barely lift it without making it worse for himself.

Paty's biggest fear was now set in motion. The Flight Exam was tomorrow and Paty had a wing that nearly got shattered. He didn't know what to do or what to think. The first thought that came to his mind was "I'm really screwed, now. I can't even lift my wing up to save my life! How am I supposed to take the Flight Exam if I can't fly?"

He tried to fly and the pain was so sharp that he closed his wings and just took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Okay, maybe I just need to let it rest, it may not be this painful tomorrow." It took one final gaze at the course then trotted home. He had no idea that the trip from his house to the Arena took much longer by hoof.

It usually takes him about five minutes to get there from his cloud, but it took him about forty minutes to get without there the use of his wings. He never walked that much so his legs weren't used to that kind of exercise. When he finally got home, he plopped himself on the small cloud and tried to sleep away the day, but he couldn't. The stress of failure was getting in his head. He had no idea what he was going to do.

His wing was sore, his balance was still bad, he was threatened by Storm, and the Flight Exam was the next day. He decided to visit his instructor and see if he could get some help. What choice did he have? His instructor was the closest thing to family he had and trusted him more than anyone else. He wasn't going to let his injured wing fail his flight exam.

He headed over to his Instructors house; the only reason Paty knows where his nstructor lives is because he has spent a few nights there, before. Both Paty and the instructor treated each other like family, though they didn't know it. When Paty got there, he saw that the lights were on and went up to the door.

His instructor's house was fairly large, it made Paty feel safe and secure while being spacious. He went to the front door and knocked as hard as he could. About a minute later, his instructor answered the door, smiling brightly.

"Why, hello Patycake, can I help you with anything," his Instructor asked. Paty nodded his head in shame.

"Yes I do, Sir," he said.

"I am disappointed in the both of you! I can't understand why you two must get into fights and argue all the time," the Instructor barked.

"With all do respect, Sir, he is the one who started it in the first place," Storm said.

"You attacked me in the Arena, don't lie to him," Paty screamed.

"You should be glad that I didn't break your wing, Paty Blank," Storm responded.

"Enough you two! You ponies need to learn when to stay away from each other. Especially you Storm! Paty might fail this exam and you are to be blamed for it," The Instructor yelled. Storm remained silent, you could see the fear in his eyes.

"Look, I'll try my best to fix this, okay Paty? I can see if I have any medicine and I'll inspect the damage of your wing," the Instructor said. "I'll also check to see if I have any eye drops."

Storm smiled. "Thank you Sir," he said.

"Don't thank me yet, there may be more damage to your eye than you realize. Even though we have wings, our hoofs are the strongest weapon a pony can have. You've been hit really hard. There might be some head trauma involved, who knows but a Doctor."

Storm turned to Paty with angry eyes and then turned back to the Instructor. "Will I be able to fly tomorrow, Sir," he asked.

"I don't know," the Instructor said, then he left the room to find the medicine they needed. Paty turned to Storm. "Thanks a lot you freaking jerk," he said in disgust.

"You deserve to fail you pathetic little asshole," Storm replied. Paty wanted to strike him hard across the face, but instead he held his anger back.

Paty felt like he was the jerk because he said some nasty things back at Storm that he wish he didn't, despite of the way Storm treated him. He wanted to apologize, but he didn't want to look weak to Strom. After quite a few noises of shuffling and trotting from room to room, Paty's Instructor had returned with a few small bottles of medicine and some eye drops, then he doctored him as much as he could. After about twenty minutes Paty's wings started feeling better and he gained the ability to move them around again.

Storm's s eye was looking alright after the eye drops, though nothing could be done about the giant bruise around it. "Well, your wing isn't broken and your eye will be just fine. In fact, you both should be able to fly tomorrow. However Patycake, your wing will be sore so watch out."

Paty looked at the Instructor. "Thank you, Sir," he said.

The Instructor turned to Storm. "You should head home, it's getting dark outside."

Storm grumbled. "Yes, Sir." Storm walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

"Paty," the Instructor said. "You can stay the night here if you want to. My guest room is clean and the bed is made real nice. You need a good night's rest before you take a swing at the Flight Exam."

Paty smiled in relief and joy. "That would be nice sir," he said. "Today has been my longest day ever."


	3. The Exam of Horror

The Exam of Horror

Paty Cake opened his eyes to a brand new day. The sky was pink and mood for most of the Pegasi was happy and joyful, but for Paty's classmates, tension was lingering in the air. The weight of the world was on Paty's back and the only way for him to get rid of it was to pass the Exam and live a normal life in the city. This was the day that would change his life, forever.

There was predictably perfect weather and schools were closed. Paty felt uneasy and sick; his wing was still a little sore, but he could move it really well. He still had several hours before he had to go take the Exam so Paty decided to take another moment out of his life to go and look at the spectacular view of the Rainbow Factory.

He flew over to his favorite camping spot with great ease and admired the Factory. The colorful streaks across the sky brightened his mood up and made him feel alive. More alive than a plant receiving water to help it survive. It felt like he was right at home for once. As his mind was drifting into a different universe, some pony woke him back up.

"How can you look at that place in awe and sit there and look the world over like nothing is wrong. There is plenty wrong with a beautiful place such as Cloudsdale. Such a place believes in nothing but power. Don't you see that, Paty?"

Suddenly, Paty was somewhere else. He felt horrible; like he was off. He looked at his surroundings to gain an idea of where he was. It was a large dark, foggy room. He couldn't quite make out much. He could tell this, though. He wasn't alone in that room. He could see the shapes of other ponies along with their color.

When he looked in front of him, he was standing in front of a large panel like device which had many kinds of levers. On the side was a screen with some information he couldn't make out. He had never seen such strange technology, before. He noticed how advanced it looked. He wanted to start shouting in discord but wasn't in full control over his body. It felt like he was supposed to do something important.

He eyed on of the levers that was placed so strangely in front of him. It called to him like an instinct he was born with. The mood of the whole situation felt sinister. Something terrible was happening and Paty Cake had no control over it. It was then when he heard the words "Pull it."

The instinct took control and he grabbed a tight hold on the lever. All Paty could do was watch. He felt a smile appear on his face. The lever brought great comfort to him, though Paty knew something evil was about to happen. Paty pulled the lever with joy as screaming was heard echoing through his ears like a shockwave blast of an explosion.

Than Paty was at the viewing location that he was at in the first place. The Rainbow Factory was still gleaming in bright colors, but Paty's perspective of it changed. It didn't look like the happy place he thought of before. It looked uneasy and dark. Paty's joyful mood had died.

Then Paty thought to himself in great confusion "What just happened"? Paty stood there frozen, telling himself that he was day dreaming, but a voice behind him said "That was a picture of your home, Paty." He turned to his left and his jaw nearly hit the floor. He met eyes with himself. Paty almost didn't recognize the copy of himself that stood before him. The copy had a different, more blue shade of fur. His mane was messy and he had almost black bags under his eyes. He was wearing what looked like a weather factory suit, but it was drenched in a red liquid. the liquid was in his mane and fur, too.

The most disturbing thing that Paty saw on his copy was the expression on its face. His eye's pupil was really small and he had a large crazed smile on his face. Paty blinked a few times and his copy disappeared out of thin air. His heart stopped for a moment, then started beating once again. He swallowed really hard while sweat rapidly soaked his purple fur. "Stress is getting to me," he thought in his head. He took a good long look at the Factory, his heart sank and turned away from it; something in his head just changed.

Paty Cake made it to the Arena where his class was taking the Flight Exam and got in line to get checked in. Thirty ponies were ahead of him, for he was the last one in line. Each pony that was in the front got some of their records checked and then was handed a number. One they received their number, they stepped inside the building.

Paty waited for what felt like forever before he finally made it to the front door. Waiting for him was a massive desk full of files and one of the most straight faced ponies he had ever faced. Two narrow eye's looking deep into Paty's soul was a bit nerve racking. The pony Paty stood in front of looked at him heavily, making out every little detail. Then the pony finally said "State your name."

Paty looked at him with a great uneasiness. "Paty Cake," he said as he shook out of pure nervousness. Then the pony started shuffling through a ton of paper work. The pony looked back at Paty.

"I noticed that you don't have your cutie mark. That's too bad,.. Most ponies without their cutie marks tend to fail more often."

Paty looked back at him really upset. "I'm sorry? Are you applying something"?

The pony smiled and laughed. "You have got to be kidding me! I mean, how is it you were able to stay in your Academy this long? You don't even have your cutie mark!"

Paty didn't dictate that with a response. He felt terrible, now. How can some pony talk to him like that? It is a little understanding that Spree and Storm would, however, a pony that has lived much longer than Paty has? That's unbelievable!

The pony that spoke horribly to Paty went back to shuffling papers and files. "Okay, here you are. File number 77. Took long enough!"

Paty narrowed his eyes. "Well, maybe it wouldn't take so long if you hadn't spoken to me," he thought.

The pony pulled out a white stip of paper with the number 77 on it then smacked it hard on Paty's flank. "There's your cutie mark," the pony said laughing. Paty Cake wanted to hit him, but instead went into the Arena. Waiting for him was complete chaos. At the starting line of the course was a disorganized crowd of ponies waiting to take their Exam.

When Paty went into the crowed, he got a sinister stare from Spree and Storm. Paty looked back at them, laughing a little bit at Storm's black eye. After that, he took a brief moment to drink it all in. Though the course was about the same as the practice, there was some major differences. For one, the courses size was a lot larger than the one Paty has been training for. The course went from one side of the Arena to the next while the training one only went half way.

Another difference that Paty was worried about was the fact that Section two was laid out completely differently. The hoops were placed in the most random of places. Some hoops were even closer to eachother than others. Paty looked at the section and swallowed real hard. Then he looked just above the course. There was a large desk with three ponies that were each holding a clipboard and a pencil. Paty knew instantly that those were the judges that decided if you passed or not.

After that brief moment of looking at the course, a pony in an instructors uniform showed up at the Starting line.

"Hello everypony," she said. "I am the Whistleblower. At the sound of my whistle, you will launch off of the starting line and began your Flight exam. However, before we can start, there are some important rules I must lay upon you. First, if you drop below the cloud layer, you will fail. Second, if you miss one of the hoops in Section two, you will fail. Third, if you miss the time to start free falling, you will fail. Four, if you run out of time before you complete the course, you will be failed. If a cloud leaves its position after being spun, you will fail. You only have twenty seconds to complete the course. Do you have any questions?" Paty looked around to see if any pony raised their hoof, but not a single one did.

"Very well then, I will call out your numbers in order," the Blower said. "Once your number has been called, step up to the Starting line, get into your launch position and wait for my whistle." The number 47 was called and some pony stepped up to the line. Paty did the math and realized that he was taking the Exam last. I set his mind to ease a little bit, but the pressure was still on. Paty looked over to Storm and Spree. Spree was number 75 and Storm was numbered 76.

Paty sighed and took a look at his progress in the waiting list. One pony after another took the Exam and made it look like a piece of cake. Unfortunately, number 52 hit one of the hoops and got a serious injury. The Blower looked at him with great shame. "You have missed a hoop, therefor, you have failed your Flight Exam. Go outside and wait by the east gate." The sad Pegasus flew out of the Arena. Then the Exams continued. Some passed like it was nothing and others failed with great uttered shame.

Finally, it was Spree's turn. The pony walked up to the finish line with a smile of pride written on his face. He entered his launch position and the whistle blew. He zipped away from the line and went through each section like a lightning bolt and made it to the finish line.

"Number 76, step up please," the Whistleblower said. storm stepped up to the line, got in his launch position, then waited for the whistle.

He turned to Paty, who was sitting only six feet away from him. "Like a dart," he laughed. the whistle blew, and Storm was immediately off the Starting line. He was facing the first Section, spinning each cloud at a rapid pace. With only a few seconds, all three clouds were spinning really fast in place. Storm then started dodging hoops while flying as fast as he could. Paty lost track of the directions Storm was going while the judges and Whistleblower eyed him real closely. Storm made it through the hoops and flew over to the third Section. "C'mon Storm, you can do it," Spree shouted. When Storm made it to the marker, he closed his wings and begun to free fall. Three seconds later, he dashed forward and landed clean on the Finish line. "Come over here Number 76," the Blower said.

Storm flew back at the finish line to meet with her. Storm landed and said to Paty with great joy

"I told you I would pass, Paty Blank."

The Whistleblower then said "Number 76, you have missed one of the hoops, therefor, you have been failed." Storm was surprised. "What, I hit every one of those hoops. How can you sit there and tell me that I..." then the Blower cut him off.

"Go outside and wait by the East gate, right now." Storm begun crying.

"Please give me another chance, I only missed one hoop! Please!"

"I said, right now," the Blower said. She pointed to the East door of the Arena. Storm looked at Spree with teary eyes, but Spree turned away in shame and left the Arena. Storm flew away toward the East door and Paty was up next.

"Okay Number 77, it's your turn."

Paty walked up to the Starting line and thought to himself "treat it like a game and believe in myself. I have this! I can do this!"

He got in his launch position, waiting for the blow of the whistle. His wing was still sore, but he could easily fly. Then, after training for a year and waiting for his fate, the whistle blew and Paty Cake was off in an instant. The adrenaline kicked in, the breeze rushed through his mane like a current and the world became a blur. Just a second later, he was already wrapping around the first cloud as he quickly as he could. The first cloud started spinning with him and Paty could only see one face of the cloud he he flew around it, so then he jumped to the next one, repeating the same process.

He knew exactly what he was doing, taking each of the three clouds on a joy ride.

"This is good, your doing good," he thought out loud as he dove for the next Section. He slowed his speed down so he could make out each hoop that came to him. Dodging up, down, left, right, his focus was only on the course just like in his training. His speed was quick, his heart racing with joy and pride as he neared the end of the second Section.

Then, suddenly, a huge wave of discomfort overwhelmed him. The already blurry hoops started spinning around him. His head started pound with pain. His entire body was corkscrewing through the air in the middle of a bunch of hoops. He felt dizzy, and his focus was completely shattered and with a blink of an eye he slammed into one of the hoops with great shear force, then he fell silently down to the cloud surface. A large thud was heard, and everything around him went dark.


	4. A Cold Night

The Cold Night

Paty awoke in an Infirmary somewhere inside the Arena corridors. His entire body was aching with pain and great soreness. His vision was hazy, but only for a few seconds. When he was fully conscious, he was meet with a whole bunch of Ponies. The Whistleblower and all the Exam failures were sitting by him, including Storm, who was sobbing a little bit.

"Are you okay, 77," the Blower asked. Paty looked around and noticed that he was bandaged along with the top of his head.

"I think I am, Sir," he said politely. He gave her a smile and showed relief that he was alive.

"Then get the hell off your ass and head for the East gate," she yelled at him. Paty got out of the bed and looked at the Pony with menacing eyes.

"What did you just say to..." he was cut short after getting smacked hard across his face.

"Shut the fuck up and get a move on before something bad happens!" Paty kept his mouth shut along with the other five failures and followed the blower to the East gate. Paty's head hung, confused about the events currently happening.

"What the hell," he thought angrily," what right does she have to treat us like this? I'm a near adult and I'm being treated like a colt!" He thought about a conversation he had with his Instructor a few days ago. "What if I fail the Exam, even if I had all the confidence in the world and the strongest belief that anypony could have? What will happen to me, then?" His Instructor sighed. "I have no idea what will happen to you if you fail. No pony does."

That memory rang through him like a bell. Whatever happens to the Pegasi that fails the Flight Exam he would experience first hand. All his worries had come true, even though it wasn't his fault. The fear of being exiled from Cloudsdale clouded Paty's mind. He wanted to start crying, but in his head, there was no point to do so. Instead he remained silent, awaiting what would happen next.

When the got to the gate, the Blower told them to keep quiet and wait for further instruction, then told them to make a neat line against the fence, and the six ponies obliged without any resistance. Storm got next to Paty, looked at him for a few seconds, then looked at the cloud floor.

Then the waiting begun. They sat their for hours of complete silence. All of the failures took a set in their spot and kept shut. Paty was still locked in his head, thinking about what the future held for him. He was nervous, scared, and extremely paranoid. It felt like the entire world had turned on him. Every pony was an enemy to him. His fear became worse and worse.

After sitting their for what felt like forever, one of the failed ponies got up.

"That's it, I've had enough of this," they said rebelliously.

"Keep your mouth shut," the Whistleblower said.

"No, I'm done sitting here! I don't have to sit here with you! I have a family with a nice home, I have some bits in a bank, I'm just going to live with them!"

The Whistleblower looked at them with eyes of heavy rage. "I said keep your mouth shut, you're not going anywhere."

The pony talked back "Fuck you! I am not going anywhere with you. I'm leaving right now!" They opened their wing and and launched over the gate as quickly as they could. The Whistleblower sat there and watched as the pony started to disappear in the distance. Then suddenly, a small projectile darted at the pony. A gush of red was seen blast out of the side of the poor pony's head as they started spinning out of control and disappeared in the clouds. Every pony but the Whistleblower was shocked.

"Do you see what happens when you try to leave," the Blower asked. "You better hope that doesn't happen to you." No other pony moved after that point. Paty was still trying to understand what was happening.

"A pony just lost their life trying to run and no pony is trying to stop it or say anything about it." He wanted to say something, but soon realized that his own life was at stake.

Once again, they sat there and waited. Paty was hoping that all the waiting would tire out the blower, making for a great escape, but the Blower didn't look tired at all and didn't have to move to kill some pony, so he kept thinking. The day was passing by really slow. Much hours later, the sun was finally going down. Some of the failed ponies went to sleep along with Storm. Paty couldn't sleep, though. His mind was so focused on his surroundings and the potential danger that awaited him.

He then looked back on his accident during the Exam. The sudden illness that overwhelmed him caused him to crash and flunk. How could this have happened? How can something quickly overcome a pony and make them do that? It was unheard of for some pony to just feel sick instantly and force them to crash. No logic was dictated behind it. It was too late now, though. He had no choice but to face what ever was laid out for him.

Storm looked at Paty for a quick moment and whispered "how are you doing so far?"

Paty answered back "I don't have an answer for you". Then the silence was back and got quite uncomfortable. After a lifetime, the sun finally went down. The night darkened the city and the world around Paty disappeared.

An unexpected carriage pulled up to the gate the failures were so bonded to. It was being pulled by some armored stallions in bulky black armor.

"Get in the fucking vehicle," the Blower said harshly. More armored ponies showed up and forced the five left over failures in the carriage.

"Wow, that's more than last years failures. How many is that, five," one of the armored ponies aked. A big smile was crossed over his face.

"There was six of them, but the damn bastard tried to make a break for it," the Whistleblower explained.

"That's a shame." A pony stepped out of the carriage and walked up to the Blower. There was nothing special about him. He looked like a normal citizen that lived in Cloudsdale.

"Lady, let's get this over with so I can go home and forget that I had anything to do with this," he said in harsh disappointment.

The Whistleblower handed him a slip of paper of which he took immediately. Then he let out a soft sigh and went back to the carriage, then sat down in the driver seat. Once every pony was in the carriage, the door shut shut and was locked from the outside, preventing any kind of attempts to escape. A small window behind the driver seat was opened and the unarmored pony peered into it, making little eye contact with the ponies that sat before him.

"Okay, listen up. Do not talk until we get to the checkpoint. Do I make myself clear?" The five ponies nodded and kept their mouths shut. He closed the window and the carriage started rolling. Paty wanted to look out a window to see where they were going, but the carriage didn't have any. There was no light, it was dark and quite nerve racking.

It was cold too, and there was not a blanket in sight to keep any pony warm. Paty Cake glanced at Storm Cloud and they exchanged head shakes. Paty figured that Storm was thinking the same thing he was. "This is ridiculous!" Nothing could be done at this point and no pony had the courage to even attempt to whisper. They were all scared; frightened by abuse and death.

"Does Celestia and Luna know what's happening here," Paty thought to himself. "Do they just choose to ignore it?" They are the biggest powers and Equestria, how can they not know what's going on? I can't believe that they would allow treatment of their fellow citizens to slide down a hill and let ponies abuse others!" Then another thought crossed his mind. "If we were getting banished, this would be considered unnecessary abuse. Than…" Paty's head froze for a moment trying to make sure that his next thought would be a legit question, but he knew that it already was.

"Where are they taking us," Paty whispered quietly. The four other ponies looked at him and shrugged. Their eyes told a true tale of sadness and despair.

The secrecy of the situation didn't add up. Paty, who was in deep thought, gathered some puzzle pieces and tried his best to put them together. He should have realized how anonymous the ponies that took him were being. They literally waited for the night to sink in, when what they could have done was take them hours ago. The random pony driving the carriage didn't fit the whole ordeal. It looks like the guy was picked off the street and was told to do this.

Paty moved his thought process to something else considering that there was no true point to figure all this stuff out. "Whatever happens, happens," he thought. The air in the carriage seemed to get colder and colder with every passing minute. The air was then and being consumed by six ponies all together. Paty decided that there was no using for staying up. He got in the most comfortable position he could. It was crammed having five ponies shoved inside of the vehicle.

He knelt his head while sitting upright to fall asleep. the world around him disappeared.

Paty awoke to violently being thrown forward and a pony in front of him caught him. The carriage came to a stop and the driver got off and opened the door.

"Get out and go to the next carriage," he said. "Oh, and you're free to talk with one another." Paty was happy; it felt as if he hadn't spoken in a lifetime. He got out along with the others and saw yet another carriage awaiting them. This time, it was being driven by two ponies in black suits and sunglasses; as if they needed them.

As Paty was trotting over to the ride, one of the other ponies started bouncing up and down, then smiled. It was the pony referred to as Number 52, who earlier rammed hard into some hoops like Paty did. He didn't understand why some should jump so furiously, but know that he could speak, he would ask.

As the ponies piled in for the next part of their journey, the old driver went up to the suited ones and handed them the slip of paper from earlier. They gave him back a giant sack which obviously held loads of bits. Then the pony went on his merry way. The five ponies were now in the next carriage. The doors were shut and locked from the outside and the carriage started moving.

"Finally, we can talk once again," Storm said in glee. Paty looked at him and said "It doesn't matter." Storm shook his head.

"Of course it matters! Now we won't be bored out of our minds." Paty looked over at Number 52.

"Hey, what were you doing jumping up and down like that," he asked. The pony looked at him proudly. "I was testing something out and apparently, I was wrong." Confused, Paty asked "What were you testing"? The pony explained "We have been traveling for hours so I was pretty sure we were out of the city by this point, but when I jumped up and down, I noticed that the ground wasn't solid. That means that we're still in Cloudsdale."

Storm shook his head again. "A bouncy ground doesn't mean that we're still in Cloudsdale. It could mean that we made it to another city made out of clouds." The pony looked at Storm with rage.

"How many cities are made out of clouds in Equestria? Just think about it." Storm looked at Paty and shrugged.

"What is your name," Paty asked the pony. Paty rarely talked to anyone in his class so he didn't know very many names.

"It's Thunder Game, but you can just call me Game for short."

Paty smiled and said "I'm Paty Cake and I'm sure you know who is sitting next to me." Game nodded. "Storm Cloud. The jerk that helped make fun of every pony outside his circle, of course I know him. Every pony does".

Paty turned to Storm smiling as big as he could. "Looks like he already has you all figured out." Storm chuckled.

"Watch your mouth before I make that bruise on your head worse than it already is." Paty kept his smile.

"Says the pony with the black eye." Storm looked at Paty with extreme rage but did nothing to comeback him.

"Anyway's, this is my friend Skull Crusher," Thunder said. Paty and met eyes with what looked like a regular pony. Storm gave him a particular look.

"So you're the one who got into that fight a couple years back," he said happily. Crusher looked at him and smiled.

"You remember me?" Storm nodded.

"Of course I do; they don't call you Skull Crusher for nothing". Crusher's smile died.

"You're the jerk that keeps picking on everyone. Sorry to say this, but I really don't want to talk to you." Paty giggled in his head. He didn't want to focus on his future fate. Other ponies were with him whether they were jerks or not. He was happy to be with others who failed as well as he did. On the other hoof, if Game was right and they were still in Cloudsdale, this wasn't as simple as banishment; it was something else. "We need to make pact," Paty murmured out loud.

Everypony looked at him funny but listened in. "What kind of pact," Crusher asked.

"A pack saying that we all stay together no matter what happens. Hey, we have no clue where we're headed so we might as well stay close to each other." Even Storm nodded his head in agreement because Paty was right. They didn't know where they were being taken or what would happen to them. None of them wanted to be alone incase something bad was coming. They've already seen some pony die before the trip even was close to starting.

"Guess this means we're all friends now. Though, I don't know how I feel about Storm Cloud being apart of this," Game said.

"I'll be in this pact though I wouldn't call us friends at all. I just hate the idea of being alone in this situation."

Paty sighed. "Okay, from now on, we stick together and what ever comes, we'll be rea…" Paty was cut short and the new group of friends became silent. Fear overwhelmed them to almost complete insanity. No pony anything waiting to see if anything was about to happen, but nothing did. Finally, Storm said the one thing that everyone realized in that brief moment of their lives. "The carriage stopped moving."


End file.
